: 08.08

Steal Mantra Records' Artist of the Month: WHORE OF THE HABITAT

read on, friends:

Adam Martinez, aka Faim Kills aka Whore of the Habitat, is about as productive and multifaceted as Steal Mantra artists come. Yes, it's true all of the Steal Mantra family is interested in many different styles and I think it comes out on record, but no SM artist has made such a stylistic jump as Adam has between projects. Faim Kills is one of the most exciting personas in local hip-hop and without any second thoughts, he jumped to Whore of the Habitat, a very dark pop sound that is at once infectious and thought-provoking in its experimentation and interesting production value. Personally speaking, I find the debut Whore of the Habitat EP, "Calaveras" to be my favorite thing to formally come out on Steal Mantra. So, without further ado Steal Mantra presents the Artist of the Month spotlight for August 2008....Whore of the Habitat.

Love,
Danny De Maio and Steal Mantra

1. Well, it's only been a few months since you were the Artist of the Month and we normally wouldn't put the same person in the spotlight twice in such a short time, but let's be honest, Whore of the Habit is a totally different beast than your other moniker, Faim Kills. What event(s) instigated the formation of Whore of the Habit?

Adam: Well, I suppose it's the mere idea that there is a time and place for everything. There are certain ideas and emotions that I can convey better as Faimkills, and then there are moments and emotions that can't be presented and evoked in the same manner while rapping. You know, rapping has always been pretty aggressive, it's a contact sport sort of genre. It's all about braggadocios and swagger for the most part, but I just see how complex we as humans are, and some musicians have aspirations that exceed one genre. I feel that I am one of those people, and I look up to folks that are multi-faceted in music, I think most of the Steal Mantra camp is pretty well-rounded as far as musical taste, and the ability to potentially work in other genres with it's sounds good…or if it were to sound really shitty, the spirit is there. I really look up to Daryl Palumbo in this sense, he's the crazy lead singer from Glassjaw, the crooner in Head Auto, a DJ in Sports, a multi-instrumentalist, a graf artist, and a rapper (look up Brite One). He's got his hand in all sorts of shit, I sort of want to do that, but not to a point where none of the projects have focus, or direction, or that they don't really matter or say anything important.
Whore of the Habitat serves as much an important role in my musical career as does Faimkills. I've always wanted to have a situation where I'm making live music and though I played in a band…that didn't pan out, I'm still hoping for a full band situation one day…right now Whore of the Habitat is pretty much what you get with Dashboard, Bright Eyes (prior to the Conor Oberst Album) or The Mountains (Sebastien Grangier's new project), a one man band as far as recording goes.

2. Where does the name itself originate from?

Adam: It actually came about from a conversation I had with my girlfriend last year. She has a degree in Art History and she was telling me about some pieces of artwork she'd been into as of lately. One piece was called "The Horror of the Habitat", I never actually got to see it because she couldn't find it online, but the phrase stuck with me and somehow I started to think of the world as a large habitat, and defining what a habitat is. The world is comprised of smaller habitats, and those fractioned off into even smaller habitats, to such a fine-tip point that even our bodies are a habitat. It's a place where we exist, where we utilize, where we exploit. It's cultures, counter-cultures, subcultures, commodifications, ideals, religion, war, science, racism. We are all whores of any given habitat because we all utilize, selfishly at times, and we all exploit something for some greater cause. We exploit our skills, our talents, we smoke, we drink, we fuck, we pray. Hence, Whore of the Habitat (p.s. go fix the names on the Steal Mantra page! lol).

3. I know we've talked about it before, but am still amazed by your recording techniques for it being recorded in your room and not a proper studio? Any tricks of the trade you've come across that help out?

Adam: Sorry Kimosabi, these are ancient secrets that I share with no one! Haha, no you know I use my aged Toshiba laptop with an external M-Audio Preamp/USB interface. I use two mics, Marshalls, both condenser, one I use for Vocals, and the other I tend to use for recording guitars, but most times I'll just plug my instruments right into the Preamp and add effects later on. I use Ableton Live 6. I am so happy with my investments from early this year. Right at the beginning of '08 I went to Guitar Center and Bought all of this equipment in a bundle that was literally no more than 300 dollars. It shows a drastic change in sound quality if you listen to my first Faimkills EP, there is a ton of white noise. As far as techniques, I always record when no one is home, unless I'm on a roll, then I record late at night when all my roommates are asleep, and wake them the fuck up! Close all the windows, light incense, turn of the fan, sweat like a fucking pig, it gets physically draining. Constant takes over and over until I get it right. Then I'll clean it up with vocal effects like Male Vocals, it just cleans up my voice as far as emphasizing the…you know what, I have no fucking clue exactly, but to me, it's like red-eye removal. And whatever effects I put on my instruments. I'm still not great at mastering and I constantly have to go back and change volumes.

4. Honestly, I was personally surprised by what I was hearing from you when I heard the first tracks you posted under Whore of the Habitat. Obviously, people know you're a hip-hop head, but more importantly I think you're a MUSIC head, a whore in that way if you will. I find that something to really admire. What albums, specifically influenced the new EP?

Adam: YES! I'm so glad you picked up on that, I am a whore when it comes to music, I indulge myself in so much, and so do you, that was another factor that made the name all the more promising and efficient. And I'm really glad you were surprised, that's kind of the reaction I want, in both Whore of the Habitat and Faimkills, it's kinda like when people find out I'm Mexican, they're like "what! I thought you were [insert pretty much any ethnicity you can think of]" Like I'm just some goof, but in my head, I can get kind of cocky, like "damn this sounds dope".
Albums that influenced this EP, there are no specific album, but it's more holistic vibes I get from certain musicians or bands whether it be vocally, instrumentally, emotionally, and it can be a specific sound from an album, a song, a career. I'd say my primary influences came from Jesse Lacey, vocally, Brand New's latest album The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me", the Devil and God contrast has been evident throughout my lyrics across genres, so that album is a really influential album. The Raveonettes, beach music, shoe gaze, dude sometimes I feel that "Bitter, Bitter" is such a lame excuse for a generic version of "Seductress of Bums" off of Pretty In Black, and yet other times, I feel like it's a nice homage to that era of music, as well as the Raveonettes, and also, the end breakdown of that song has a sort of epic feel to it to me, something along the lines of The Arcade Fire, with a rockabillyesque bassline. Dude, you know me, so much influence, Damien Rice, specifically the song "9 Crimes", Glen Hansgard of The Frames check out The Swell Season, Jens Lekman, Coheed (Claudio Vocals and guitar riffs at times like at the middle/end of "La Pelona"), Nirvana (especially the riff on "Luke Havergal and the Ballad of Hell"). Older Radiohead, like Pablo Honey, The Smiths' The Smiths and The Queen is Dead, Sonic Youth instrumentally at times, primarly in "La Pelona", Daryl Palumbo and Max Bemis vocally and the vulnerability of Lightspeed Champion lyrically. I'll stop there for now, but I'm sure we can debate and have plenty of conversations about influences through out.

5. I've listened to the EP at least 9 or 10 times through since I got it and I find this interesting juxtaposition in the songs between relatively being guitar figures and really dark lyrics. Where you aiming for that or did it just sorta end up that way?

Adam: I think it's a little bit of both. I think this idea rings true the most in "La Pelona" and "Luke Havergal and the Ballad of Hell". And I think you are right. For these two songs, I did have dark lyrics in mind. Most of these songs lyrics have been written for a span of about two years, and the music for the most part, well the initial ideas for them have also been boiling in the pot for at least half a year, but I'll tell you something, the lead guitar part, I came up with them on the spot during each recording session, so let's hope I remember them by the time I get ready to perform.
I'll say one more thing about that juxtaposition, I don't like having total control, I like to think, to hope that the music guides you and is a medium to convey things you yourself couldn't have imagined.

6. To me "La Pelona" is the darkest song on the record, both instrumentally and lyrically. Thinking of the steps towards creating something, do you sit down and know you're going to write a dark song or do you just wing it and see what happens?

Adam: My songs are pretty much collages. It takes bits and pieces of lyrics I've written down over time, they seems to all match in some way, and I'll go off that. So I usually know thematically what I'm going for, dark, romantic, nostalgic, etc. I don't really know how everything seems to work out together, that's a good sign right? Maybe I've got some talent afterall.

7. How about the What Hands Are For reference in "Luke Havergal and the Ballad Of Hell" ? Intentional?

Adam: Absolutely, I had the makings of these lines ready to go about one year ago. I fell in love with that band man. I respect them so much, they're really talented. The Loud Ass EP is so consistent and pretty unforgiving. It has this swagger that is a rarity to me in this type of music, sort of a "fuck you" attitude, lyrically, it's so direct, and unremorseful. It's become a 2008 favorite and listening to it versus the first demo, wow, they've improved so much. I haven't seen them play for awhile, but every time I see them, they get better. I can't wait to see them play with Spirit Fangs!!! Also an instant Steal Mantra classic. I hope to play some shows with both bands whether it's Faimkills or Whore of the Habitat. Our scene is thriving in my opinion, there are a lot of bands in the Inland Empire that deserve recognition, and it makes me puke to think that people automatically assume that you have to be some fuck from Los Angeles to have talent, or that you have to venture out to a metropolis like L.A. to be somebody. Fucking do something with what you have, where you live, when you have it. Support local art. My only complaint is that I would like some more recognition from some bands I admire, but that's really up to my isn't it?

8. To preface this next question, I just want to let you know that I wouldn't say this if I didn't mean it, but I truly think that you have created my favorite record thus far on the Steal Mantra label. Now, are you, personally happy with the record?

Adam: Thank you for that…if I can get a reaction like that from someone like you, I feel like I've done something right, and that in itself makes me happy. But you know how it is, as an artist, you've always got multiple voices in your head. Some days I hear the EP, and I'm very satisfied, I love it, I think it's better than a lot of shit out there. Other times, I am embarrassed, it's the worst thing I've ever heard, and I can just point out every little mistake and I find new ones over and over. But I think that comes with the territory, so overall, yes I am personally happy, I got a lot of experience, and I think I've come a long way from the beginning when I started recording acoustic stuff back in 2004. I think I cam close to achieve what I wanted sonically, lyrically, vocally, thematically, although I know I need some vocal training.

9. Did you get any help writing/recording the record or did you do it 100% on your own?

Adam: I'm a lone wolf man. I wrote and recording everything on this EP 100% on my own. I was supposed to have my roommate play violin on two songs, it ended up working in my favor that it didn't occur. I had to improvise and I honestly think I'm happier with the sound than if I had the violin.

10. What do you think "Calaveras" main theme is?

Adam: It's bareness. It's showing your vulnerabilities and insecurities. It's confronting things that you don't want to confront and pondering inevitabilities. It's getting to the bottom of things. It's based on artwork I hold dear and am fascinated with as a part of Mexican culture, as a part of my roots. Calaveras were lithographs made by Jose Guadalupe Posada. La Pelona is lady death, a figure in El Dia De Los Muertos, and there are a few other figures that I tried to personify in making this EP. There is also a certain story that I've tried to rationalize after making the ep lol. The sequence of songs, specifically the track listing can tell a story on it's own. With characters and a plot, it's up to you to understand it I suppose. It's romantic and dark at heart, but it is not a concept EP. It's about romanticizing heartbreak and loss.

11. You've released the debut EP in the dead of summer, a time when it seems like a lot of people find and get attached to records for the rest of their lives. Any summer records that have stood the test of time? Any new ones that you find might still be in your head in the years from now?

Adam: I think you're the only music geek that get attached to records. No just kidding, it's just that, I was more of a late bloomer as far as realizing and listening to and fully appreciating all kinds of music. In high school, I can remember the summer when Blink-182 released Take of Your Pants and Jacket. I'd say that mostly all summer records stick with you purely for nostalgic reasons, well I guess all music sticks with you partially for the memory of what was going on in your life at the time of listening. One of the roughest summers for me was in 2003, and I can remember two albums that really stuck with me, even to this day. Coldplay's A Rush of Blood to the Head, I'm not sure if that album even came out in the summer, I think it came out in the summer a year earlier. That album is still my favorite Coldplay album (although Viva La Vida is slowly taking over), and one of my favorite albums ever. Towards the end of that summer, the most memorable album for me was N.E.R.D.'s In Search Of…, as well Clones the Neptunes album. Those albums helped me get over a lot of the shit that sucked about that summer, and it was late summer when I listened to these albums, so they are feel good records, and putting that summer behind. In the summer after high school, I was loving Hot Fuss by the Killers, still one of my favorite albums of our generation, also My Chemical Romance's Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge, that album is so dope, Tim his the one who turned me on to both of those albums, and I just love them to this day, I'm talking front to back. Brand New's Deja Entendu.
In college everything changed though. We're living in day and age where people don't really listen to albums anymore, they just have a "best of" sort of play list with their favorite songs from their favorite artists, and I'll admit I fall into this category. In the first two summers of college, I loved Bloc Party's Silent Alarm, Sage Francis' Personal Journalist, Atmosphere's old albums, The Gorillaz Demon Days, and Pharell's In My Mind, Mew's And the Glass Handed Kites, Head Automatica's Popaganda, M.I.A. Arular. Now I can see some albums being important summer jams, Girl Talk Feed the Animals, Atmosphere's When Life Gives You Lemons You Paint that Shit Gold, Ghostland Observatory's old album, Paparazzi Lightning, and plenty of Raveonettes songs.
But I'm a seasonal music listener, I attach albums and songs to different seasons, I tend to be excited for winter, there is something about walking on campus in the cold or even in the rain and listening to those songs that got me through the first years of college.
One more thing, the summer of 2003, I will never forget it's still engrained in my mind, I remember being in Mexico, driving on a highway by the coast and listening to There is a Light that Never Goes Out by the Smiths, and it since has always stuck with me, I love that song, and for some reason when I listen to certain 80s punk or even New Wave, I get this vision of a Mexican Oceanside, and it keys me in to magical realism in literature of Latin American artists. Weird how the mind works, memory.

12. "Calaveras" is one of the few Steal Mantra released records where I find real, unadulterated, sincere beauty. It doesn't seem jaded or confrontational, and there is especially a section in "We Are A Birch Tree" from 3:17 - 5:20 where I find this really gorgeous, spacious passage. As a lyricist, being 22, do you find yourself jaded in a time where there is so much shit to drag your spirits down? Or is it easy to put yourself in a place where life isn't rife with nonsense that can make someone jaded?

Wow, thank you for that, sincere beauty, I wish I had a publicist to quote you. I'm actually listening over the record right now, have been since I started answering these questions to get a full focus. This is a really sincere song, maybe the most sincere of the EP, and it was the first I recorded, and the one I hold close because it's quite possibly the most personal. Being 20 something is jading, being any age is tiresome, we always things to complain about, being in your 20s is an evolved version of teenage angst, problems you have are most likely more important than those of a teenager, financial, romance, friendships, they all start to say something more about the person you are, and they are all your responsibility. You know we start to be unhappy with things because aren't the way we want them or expected them to be a few years back. So I think embracing these gripes and being jaded help, just as long as you aren't bored with your situation, the way see it, as long as you can turn it into a positive by releasing it in some sort of medium, and creating some raw emotion in the visual, spatial, physical sense, it's worth it to put up with the shit you go through, A) because we have no other choice and B) because it makes for good music.

13. Was "Calaveras" recorded in the now, or did you reach back a few years to draw lyrical passages?

I'd say it was recorded in the now, I reached back no more only maybe a year in my mind, just to see what I thought about certain things and see that growth, and negotiate that into lyrics. I think I'd really like to draw on older stuff in the future though. I'd like to make music that can reach different ages. Even those annoying teenagers who think their lives are miserable.

14. I see at least two Steal Mantra records coincidentally have titles relating to death/skeletons ( "Calaveras" EP and "SCENE SKELETONS" LP). What made you choose the title?

Adam: Well, like I said, the whole Dia De Los Metros thing and Jose Guadalupe Posada, I have this fascination with Mexico, I think it's because I just recently became a better Spanish speak, and because I'm so far removed from this culture, that I want to be a part of it, or at least appreciate it on some greater level. And like I said going back to things reminding me of Mexico, even if I've only been there once, it's so rustic and beautiful, I'd love to travel to central parts, I somehow correlate skeletons and the ideals behind Calaveras with some surrealist notions. I am just intrigued by it.

15. Also, Julian Rubalcaba aka Portrait Fiasco was rad enough to do both of our artwork for our albums. How did you like the finished product? Did you direct him what you kind of wanted or did you just let him run loose with his own ideas?

Adam: I loved the album art, 100% as soon as I saw it, I just told him briefly what I wanted him to draw on, and somehow he came up with something even better. It reminds me so much of Dante's Inferno, the River Styx, and death, and romance all in one image.

16. So what's next for Whore the Habitat?

Adam: I hope to do some shows, most likely acoustic sets. I want this EP to be heard, I think I'm proud of it enough to have people listen and critique it, enjoy it, hate it, I would like to be a greater part of our music scene.

17. Anything new in the land of Faimkills? Should we be keeping our ears open for some new material in the coming year?

Adam: I'm working on new Faimkills materials now, I'm hoping to put out anywhere from 2-4 Eps before the end of this year. My plan is to put out material and use it as a resume to get more people fucking with me, then I feel like producers will be more inclined to make beats for me since they've heard a few different sides of me. Expect some new remixes, and a different sounding Faimkills, hopefully getting better with age.

18. Any plans on performing as Whore of the Habitat?

Adam: Like I said I'd love to perform, it just a matter of how can I convey these songs with the same feelings as you get when you hear the EP, all the drums are digital, and I played al the instruments and backing vocals, so if I do acoustics, it could take away, or it could be something different, we'll see. I'm just looking for opportunities.

19. Any albums your looking forward to in the second half of 2008? Is the new Lil Wayne all it's cracked up to be?

Adam: New Lil' Wayne album had a good marketing plan, that's all it was, it's not the best, I read an article about NME, and how Brits are starting to take interest in American music again, there list of top 25 artists making America cool again was horrid, no offense to the British people, but dude, there is so much good shit in America, Lil Wayne should not be your 2 vote, and Vampire Weekend shouldn't be 1. Listen to Faimkills, or Whore, lol just kidding. As far as 08 goes…Dr. Dre's Detox album is my most anticipated, if it comes out this year, or ever for that matter. The new Killers album is supposed to drop before '09 I believe. The new Kings of Leon, I admit I wasn't initially a fan, but they're infectious. There's this band I'm getting into called Crystal Stilts, they're from Brooklyn, their debut drops in October. Interested to hear the new TVOTR album, as well as Q-Tip's Renaissance and Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II.

20. What did you take away from your 48 state road trip this summer?

Adam: That people change, and you have to accept that and if the friendship means enough, you'll accept those changes and hopefully those same friends will accept the new you as well. Also, I did a lot of internal meditation and realized that things, negative things, you have to get rid of them, and move forward, even if sometimes you are so disgusted with yourself, you have to drop them and see what else is out there for you. Most importantly though is the fact that I LOVE CALIFORNIA, there is no other place in this country for me. I love the diversity and the culture more than any other place I visited.

21. Last words before we go?

Adam: Yeah when are we going to form a super group with Portrait, the Fangies, and the Whore? Listen to www. myspace. com/whoreofthehabitat and listen to www. myspace. com/faimkills .

8.31.2008

relapsing

8.30.2008

humidity + flies + fatigue + boredom =

8.26.2008

cute little thing

8.24.2008

i love the 80's

8.22.2008

crazy 4 cult 2

8.18.2008

dance

shop and sush

8.16.2008

the other sea world

8.15.2008

take it out your pocket, show it, then throw it

8.12.2008

tragedies

8.08.2008

lily

a beautiful mind

8.06.2008

shady antics

politics x pop culture

they're not dead!

8.05.2008

new york

VEGAS

present

past